Has it really been three years since the release of MNDR’s Feed Me Diamonds? It really doesn’t seem that long since Amanda Warner and Peter Wade pushed the boundaries of Electronic Pop music with what is still one of our favourite albums of the last ten years. Following on from a handful of singles and EPs that left us slathering for a long player, Feed Me Diamonds didn’t disappoint. Delivering on the previous release’s promise of intricately crafted, left-field SynthPop tunes, Feed Me Diamonds neatly melded knob tweaking experimental sounds and abrasive with catchy Pop hooks.
Warner and co have been pretty quiet since that 2012 release, she’s been writing and producing behind the scenes for the likes of Charli XCX, Clean Bandit and SOPHIE. There have been a few collaborative records out, but none that really grabbed us much, to the point that we feared for future MNDR tracks. But that fear seems to have been unfounded as MNDR unveils her first original track since the album, and it’s good.
Still with WonderSound Records, MNDR released Kimono over the weekend and is our first taste of what might be to come from MNDR’s sophomore LP. Amanda is still in the process of writing and producing the new album, in-between similar duties for other artists, but we should have more news about the forthcoming record soon.
Hitting the ground running with some spiky, modulated beats Kimono makes a few more nods toward the dancefloor than much of MNDR’s previous output. Not that past releases haven’t been dancefloor friendly, but Kimono’s angular digital bass and nostalgic claps make for a slightly Italo, robotic Disco groove. Amanda taken on a hushed tone for her vocal delivery in the verses this time, with a more recognisable holler in the chorus. There’s an enticing enigma to Kimono, a warm and inviting mystery that is unusual to MNDR’s music, a certain smoothness that’s a welcome addition to Amanda’s arsenal. Dare we say Balearic?, in mood if not in sound. All-in-all a pretty amazing tune, and one that once again as stoked out interest in MNDR’s second album.
The chairperson of the board Little Boots has shared two more songs from her forthcoming Business Pleasure EP. We’ve already moved to the lead tune, Taste It and it’s video; the next two out of a total of four tracks, continue to show off that fact that this looks set to be Boot’s most ecclectic release to-date. Check out the bottom of the post for a link to pre-order one of the fantastic vinyl packages. Engraved watches people!
Heroine is slightly more traditional Little Boots that the previously heard Taste It. Co-produced by MNDR’s Pete Wade the track has a lush 90s Dance-Pop feel with a hint of Nocturnes Deep House leanings and Victoria’s sweet vocal gliding across booming bass and warehouse snares. A completely different slant is taken by Pretty Tough, which is dangerously close to Trap and is strangely enchanting. Moody soundtrack synths grown over the skip-hop beat while Boot’s delivers a vocal performance unlike anything she’s done before. Like we said, this is one ecclectic release for Little Boots, but if there’s one thing we love to see it’s an artists flexing their musical muscles. Welcome to Victoria’s gun-show.
♫ Little Boots – Heroine
♫ Little Boots – Pretty Tough
Little Boots’ Business Pleasure EP is released 1st December. Some very tasty indeed pre-order vinyl/poster/bag/digital watch!!! packages are available here.
In all honesty we just weren’t that keen on RAC’s, MNDR and Kele featuring, Let Go, in fact much of their output ever since they transformed from reMixers extraordinaire to major label Indie-Pop outfit has fallen a bit flat in our opinion, it;s not bad, it’s just not particularly inspired. Being big fans of MNDR, we really wanted to love Let Go, we just weren’t feeling it. However, we very much are feeling this reMix of the tune from New Your Indie-ElectroPop heroes Holy Ghost!, so there’s always that. I wonder if RAC know that the RAC is actually a thing in the UK, like the AA.
So, Holy Ghost! do what Holy Ghost! do best, injecting the track with a ton of their raw synth Disco. Twisting analog lead lines and thick, bouncing bass permeate every second of the track. MNDR’s vocals in particular fit beautifully with Holy Ghosts! NYC groove, moreso than in the original, we’d absolutely love to hear more of a Holy Ghost!/MNDR collaboration. The result here is a smooth and breezy, but definitely urban, slice of synthesizer funk, heave and robust, that’s as playful as it is pumping.
♫ RAC (Feat. Kele & MNDR) – Let Go (Holy Ghost! reMix)
The amazing MNDR’s new single, Faster Horses, has now got itself a crazy video. The track is taken from their electronic rumors Awards 2012 top five album Feed Me Diamonds, and always had ‘single material’ written all over it.
The John Threat directed video is a madly animated Amanda Warner dreamscape. The glasses are back, and s,o apparently, are horses in headphones.
Faster Horses is taken from MNDR’s album, Feed Me Diamonds, out now.
Oh, go on then, we’ll have one more reMix of MNDR’s Feed Me Diamonds. Partly because we’re big MNDR fans, partly because we’re also pretty fond on Canadian groover Robotaki. But mostly because Robotaki has done a sterling job here, the best Disco version we’ve heard.
Robotaki has got a perfect grasp of Amanda’s vocals, and the rhythm of the song, as he completely retextualises her voice but allows it to keep it’s own intention. The vocals become a big sweeping Disco top line when presented with Robotaki’s 70’s synth disco. Expect loads of rapid percussion on ringing bells. The best way to describe it is to quote Robotaki: “Totally watched an old kung-fu flicks while this was being made.” There you go.
Yeah, yeah. We know. reMix competitions… You all know where we stand on reMix competitions, that’s stance being that they are mostly tedious. However, how can we say no to our favourite raw ElectroPop duo MNDR reMixed by two of our favourite producers, Figure Of 8 and Box Of Wolves? We couldn’t, and are just going to have to swallow out ‘reMix competition’ pride to bring you these two jams.
And they both take a very different tact too. Belfast’s Figure Of 8 whips up a deep Housey track with a strong warehouse vibe. Loaded with pulsating synths and robotic beats, Figure Of 8’s mix dips in and out of a 90s House sound whilst spending the rest of it’s time delivering a synthetic club track that contrasts strongly, but works amazingly well, with Amanda’s vocals. Chillwaver Box Of Wolves’ take on the track is typically warm and enveloping. Hinting at a 90’s R&B groove amongst the waves of blissed-out synths, Box Of Wolves crafts something that is both dreamlike and funky. Again, it’s not the kind of track we’re used to hearing Amanda singing on, but as with Figure Of 8’s mix, it works so well. Two top entries, if one of them doesn’t win we’ll be calling “foul”!
The awesome MNDR’s current single, Feed Me Diamonds, from the amazing album of the same name has has a radical going over from RAC. The collective have completely stripped down the track and rebuilt it in a funky new form.
André Allen Anjos took up the RAC reigns for this one, removing all the quirky ElectroPop and replacing it with a solid Disco groove that rests on a piano hook and popping groovy bassline. And for such a departure from the original it really works. There’s a nice hint of plucked strings from the original in the chorus that adds a kind of dancefloor drama in this context. This is what a reMix should be, completely different from the original but just as good.
It was the summer of 2010 that New York based eclectic ElectroPop duo of Amanda Warner and Pete Wade, better known to the discerning Pop world as MNDR, first came to out attention. A combination of stumbling across their track ‘Fade to Black’, and consequently the ‘E.P.E.’ EP, and then within a few months Mark Ronson’s MNDR & Q-Tip featuring ‘Bang Bang Bang’ blowing up, had us hooked.
MNDR manage to walk a line few people can successfully pull-off. Their music is both interesting, sometimes even experimental, and edgy, yet at the same time as catchy as the best Pop track and infectiously danceable. Thoughtful songs, loaded with meaning and a sense of humour, coupled with electronic music production that isn’t afraid to do something different, whist understanding the importance of melody, is a winning combination. The past year has seen MNDR go from strength to strength as Amanda has been touring extensively and releasing as string if acclaimed singles, most recently ‘#1 In Heaven’. All building anticipation for the release of MNDR’s début full length record ‘Feed Me Diamonds’, which promises to be one of the electronic albums of the year.
Synth fetishist Amanda Warner has a style and charisma that puts most frontwomen to shame, a prolific songwriter (she’s also written Pop songs for a publishing company), producer and performer with a clear vision of what she wants to achieve, took some time out from her schedule touring with The Ting Tings to speak to electronic rumors about, y’know, synths and stuff.
ER. Tell us a bit about your musical history leading up to MNDR, have you always been into making electronic music or have their been Rock bands along the way?
AW. I have been into and making music all of my life. From Classical all the way to noise and experimental and lots in between. So yeah there has been a few Rock bands…but always left of centre out of the grip.
ER. So what influences you, both from an electronic music point of view, and what inspires your actual songs?
AW. I have always been inspired by production and sound/sound design. I think it brings out melodies and micro melodies that can be lost a bit using traditional Western instrumentation. I think pop music is about connecting with as many people as possible. I took a break from pop music and was really involved with Experimental/Noise music, which felt more about exclusion than inclusion. When I decided to start making Pop music again I thought I should try and make it about connection and inclusion as much as I possibly can. I think people connect with emotion. For me, sounds can be as emotive as lyrics and melody. However, I think the challenge and what is inspiring about Pop music is writing lyrics and melodies that people can connect with. It is difficult to write a song that is direct and from the heart. It is a challenge to not drench it in metaphor. You can say I Love You or I Feel Sad many different ways using metaphors, but the challenge is to just say it…without irony and straight from the heart. I try and do that everyday with Pop music.
♫ MNDR – Fade To Black
ER. From the outside, it looks like New York is one of the only places in the US you can get away with interesting electronic music. The big dance acts seem to be working all over now but New York still seems to be the home of more eclectic synth stuff. Do you think MNDR could have kicked off anywhere else in the states other than New York? Has being based in NYC now given you an audience you wouldn’t have had otherwise?
AW. I have to respectfully disagree with you. Chicago, LA, SF, Berlin, Toronto, Minneapolis…truly electronic music is growing and changing everywhere. I don’t really think NYC is the centre of electronic synth music. I think this style of music is sort of beyond geography. I’m sure the best EDM is happening in Lawrence, Kansas right now….or Fargo, ND. That’s usually how it goes.
Truly I don’t know if MNDR would have changed into pop music if it weren’t for NYC. That is really odd to say come to think about it. I think NYC sort of focused me and what I wanted to do with pop music. NYC has a way of not letting you fuck around too much…the game is deep here.
ER. Does Pete ever play, or have any intention to play, live with you? Or appear in the videos? Or is he more comfortable holed up in the studio?
AW. MNDR is a duo in the studio with Peter and I, but as far as live performance and everything else that goes with doing an artist project, it is more of a solo endeavour.
ER. One of the coolest things about you, other then the music obviously, is that you’re apparently a massive synth geek. Where did you obsession with studio noodling come from?
AW. I grew up on a farm in rural North Dakota. My dad was a “blue eyed soul” Rock musician and moved onto more Dad music as the years rolled by. He built an extremely modest 4 track reel-to-reel studio in the basement of our old family farm house. It is cold as hell there and I just wanted to multi-track record. So finally when I was about 9 or 10 my dad taught me some basics of multi track recording and it went on from there. There was always music and musicians at our house.
ER. So, what’s in MNDR’s studio? Any favourite or go-to bits of kit?
AW. I ended up selling a lot of stuff when I moved from California to NYC. So I was pretty in the box for a long time. I just recently started to purchase gear again. I finally rented a proper production room in Brooklyn. Right now I have a Moog Voyageur, Dave Smith Evolver, Nord G2 Engine, a replica of an EMS MK1 suitcase synth, Electrix Repeater, and some pedals…bits of this and that. I am super into the Roland EP series vintage keyboards. I believe Fela used them or I know that Antibolis has them. I have a 1974 Telecaster, 1970 Fender P-bass, and some other great guitars. I am getting way back into playing guitar and bass…I guess that’s where I started. I imagine by the end of the year I will be sleeping under a pile of MIDI cables and modules. Oh yeah I just bought an OP-1 and I LOVE IT!!!!!! Also I have heard great things about the Tempest. Does that answer the question? I think I rambled a bit.
ER. And how does the writing and recording process work? Do you and Pete write together?
AW. Generally it starts with a beat that Peter and or I started and then it goes from there. We write almost everything together. Our goal in the studio is to always just start from pure creativity and emotion. I truly hate starting music with “we need a fill in the blank song” sort of mentality. I don’t think it lends itself to good song writing….or at least it doesn’t for Peter and I.
ER. If money was no object, what synth (or bit of studio kit) would you love to own?
AW. I pretty much want everything. If I had to choose, I am super into a vintage Eventide Omnipressor. I would also love a Yamaha CS-80 or maybe a tubon. I also would love a 300 year old baroque double bass with a 500 year old bow. I also want every vintage Danelectro and I want to live at Steve Albinis or John McEntire’s studio…maybe Carl Craig. I think I truly want everything. I really like old studio gear that has a ton of character.
♫ MNDR – C.L.U.B.
ER. Your new video for ‘#1 In Heaven’ sees you sans huge glasses, was losing them for the clip a hard decision? What’s the thinking behind the video?
AW. There’s more to life than glasses…but I do need them and they are my actual prescription. I have some new pairs of glasses….so you will see some of my four eyes again. The video directed by Cody Critcheloe (SSION) is a manifesto. We were inspired by Valerie Solanas, Patty Hearst, zines, and posters. The song is about Patty Hearst and her involvement with the SLA. The video is a live action zine and manifesto being created in real time. We wanted the political/zine undertones to be involved with the video. Cody is a genius…so he can make anything come together.
ER. So, I didn’t really know much about Patty Hearst and the SLA, although it was news over here I don’t think it made the same impact in the cultural psyche. So when I read that the chorus of ‘#1 In Heaven’ was based on her arrest statement I read up on the subject. Is the whole song based on those events or just those chorus lines? What about that situation inspired you to write about it?
AW. The whole song is inspired by her sympathizing with her captors (SLA). I am inspired by heroines and people who have moments of clarity and are willing to throw everything away for their beliefs. Patty Hearst is a million times more wealthy than let’s say Paris Hilton, and she believed in something so much, she was willing to throw away her fortune and fame. The SLA was a violent organization, which I don’t agree with, as I am a humanist, but I can appreciate on some level extreme idealism. I guess I am SO BORED with everyone these days selling purses instead of doing something interesting.
ER. When can we expect the MNDR full length album? And what can we expect from it?
AW. MNDR album entitled ‘Feed Me Diamonds’ is out this summer in late July/early August on Ultra Records. This is a pop album. It has ballads, dance songs, mid-tempos and everything in between. I think you will find that it is not solely a “dance pop” album, but more of a “pop album” you catch my drift????
ER. Are you a cereal for breakfast person, or more of a pile of pancakes kinda’ gal? Would that change the night after a big show?
AW. I am an oatmeal girl no matter what sort of trouble I was in the night before.
Many thanks to Amanda for taking the time to speak to our readers (that’s you lot!), we can’t explain how excited we are to hear to new album.
‘#1 In Heaven’ is out now with MNDR’s full length album, ‘Feed Me Diamonds’ due out this summer, both on Ultra.
MNDR’s ‘#1 In Heaven’ is one of my favourite tracks of the year so far. It’s raw, catchy and in-your-face ElectroPop, so it’s definitely a good thing that they entrusted it to someone with such a track records as deep ‘90’s Housemeisters Azari & III.
Azari & III’s reMix an epic building, hypnotic track full a massive dose of Beep House (probably my favourite (defunct) House genre). it’s chock full of rattling 909 hats, square basses, resonant synths and a moody, intoxicating atmosphere that would have killed in late ‘80’s warehouse parties. Totally different from the original, Azari & III have made a powerful complimentary track.
electronic rumors 